PHILADELPHIA – Ready to begin its second half of the season with Ivy League play the rest of the way, the University of Pennsylvania football team heads back on the road to New Haven, Conn. Saturday to take on Yale at noon.
 
The Quakers (4-1, 1-1 Ivy) have won four of their first five games to the 2023 season and carry a 3-0 road mark, winning five straight away from home dating back to the end of last season. The Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1 Ivy) have won three consecutive games and are coming off a 31-3 win vs. Sacred Heart last weekend to conclude non-conference play.
 
GAME 6 – PENN at YALE
Saturday, October 21, 2023 | Noon
Yale Bowl | New Haven, Conn.
Watch on ESPN+ ($)  |  Listen Live (QAN)  |  Live Stats
Penn Game Notes (PDF) | Yale Game Notes (PDF)
 

The Yale Series
It's the 89th meeting in the all-times series between Penn and Yale Saturday as the pair meets up at the Yale Bowl for the first time since 2021. The Bulldogs have the edge, 51-36-1, dominating play in New Haven, 24-15. The Quakers are looking for their first road win over Yale since Oct. 21, 2016 (42-7). They snapped their four-game losing skid last season with a 20-13 homecoming victory to hand Yale its only Ivy loss of the season, who went on to become outright champions of the Ancient Eight.
 
Last Meeting With The Bulldogs
Penn played one of its most complete games of the 2022 season in a big-time 20-13 victory over Yale at Franklin Field last fall. 11,972 people were on hand to witness the win for Homecoming as the Quakers outscored the Bulldogs, 10-3, in the second half. The first two quarters were back and forth as the two teams traded field goals and touchdowns capped by a three-yard toss from Aidan Sayin to Rory Starkey, Jr. with 14 seconds remaining in the first half to tie the game up at 10-10. Graham Gotlieb booted a 20-yard field goal to start off the third quarter, but Yale answered back with a 46-yarder with 9:21 remaining in the fourth. With just 20 seconds remaining in regulation, a one-yard TD sneak for Jonathan Mulatu with just 20 seconds remaining put the game on ice and handed the Red and Blue a 20-13 win to remain perfect at 6-0 overall.
 
Road Warriors!
There isn't a team in the Ancient Eight this season that is as prolific at winning on the road as Penn is, 3-0 is such contests so far. In fact, the Quakers have won five straight road games dating back nearly a year next week to 2022. In fact, the five-game streak is Penn's longest since 2002-04 it won 13 consecutive games on the road stretching over all three seasons.
 
Defense Wins
The age-old phrase "Defense Wins Championships" tends to ring true, so let's see how that fares this season for the Red and Blue with just five games remaining. In the first half of the season, Penn has the fourth-ranked total defense in the nation, averaging 268.6 yards allowed per game. It's very near the top of the Ivy League as well, trailing only Princeton (265.0) for that title. In addition, the Quaker defense also ranks third in the country for team passing efficiency defense (103.66), third in first downs defense (84) and seventh in rushing defense (87.0).
 
Target Practice
Wide receiver is clearly a strength for the Quakers as we enter the second half of the 2023 season on Saturday. For the fifth straight game, Sayin threw to at least eight different receivers, all registering at least one catch. Catching a majority of the passes are the sophomore trio of Jared Richardson (28), Alex Haight (26) and Bisi Owens (18) with another 18 to junior tight end Bryce Myers. Richardson leads the team with 310 yards and three touchdowns, while Haight has 258 yards and Owens with 184.
 
Weekly Honors
The streak of three consecutive weeks with a weekly award winner was snapped this week, but four Quakers still managed to find their way on the honor roll as Sayin, Owens, Joey Slackman and Gotlieb all landed spots for Week 5. Malachi Hosley was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week in Week 4, Albert Jang earned Special Teams Player of the Week honors in Week 3 and Richardson was tabbed Offensive Player of the Week following Week 2.
 
Top Frosh
Hosley is establishing himself as one of the premier freshmen talents in the country, named to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List on Wednesday afternoon. One of 22 FCS players—and the only student-athlete from the Ivy League—to land on the list, the award is given to the national freshman of the year in the NCAA Division I subdivision. He's played a key role in both phases of the offensive game, totaling 29 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns while hauling in 10 passes for 124 yards and a TD.
 
Sitting Pretty at 1-1
Who would've thought we'd be looking at the improbable six-way tie for second place in the Ivy after the first two weeks of the second season. We're very much looking at it, as Penn is one of those teams along with Brown, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth and Princeton. Harvard is currently in first place at 2-0 while Columbia fell to 0-2 after losing to the Quakers last weekend.
 
Three Is A Magic Number
Following a 20-17 victory over Columbia, Penn has now played in three consecutive games against Ivy opponents decided by three or fewer points. The Quakers opened conference play this fall with a 23-20 overtime loss vs. Dartmouth and beat Princeton, 20-19, on the road to conclude last season. The close contest has surely been a trend across Ancient Eight play so far this season, with seven of the eight conference games decided by a single possession. Six have been determined by a field goal or less.
 
Last Time Out
Penn withstood the elements and scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes of the fourth quarter to come away with a 20-17 victory Saturday afternoon at Columbia. Gotlieb bookended the contest with two field goals—along with a 23-yard game winner—while Liam O'Brien snuck in for his fourth rushing touchdown of the year and Owens recorded the game-tying TD for his first-career score. Sayin completed 30 of his 44 passes for 286 yards and the fourth-quarter touchdown, while Richardson caught seven passes for a team-high 91 yards. On defense, Slackman and Jack Iuliano each recorded sacks while Kadari Machen finished with a team-high eight total tackles.
 
MG In Our Hearts
Sophomore defensive lineman Michael Gavin passed away on Saturday at the age of 20 after battling a rare, incurable form of brain cancer. Despite learning of his diagnosis in June 2022, Gavin decided he wanted to fight the disease as a Penn student-athlete and became a deeply respected member of both the academic and athletic communities. In the 2022-23 academic year, Gavin received the Coach Lake Award, awarded to the player who demonstrates leadership, team spirit and unwavering Penn pride.
 
Be The Match
Penn and Yale will recognize the Be The Match program and the "Get In The Game, Save A Life" campaign that was started by longtime Villanova football head coach Andy Talley in 2008. The Quakers, Bulldogs and Wildcats were the first schools to participate in the drive in '08 and are the only schools to be a part of the initiative all 15 years.